Twelfth Nite Review


		ut the performances are the thing, and the cast is exemplary. Imogen Stubbs's Viola is charming without becoming too much of a clichéd tomboy in her impersonation of a boy. Helena Bonham Carter is a suitably beautiful and narcissistic Olivia, and the womens' first big scene together is particularly strong. As Orsino, Viola's only true (and secret) object of affection, Toby Stephens (the son of the late Sir Robert and Dame Maggie Smith) is appropriately hunky in appearance and has excellent technical facility. But, as in his RSC Coriolanus a few seasons back, he still needs to fill the words out with a bit more inner emotional life. Mel Smith and Imelda Staunton are both excellent as Sir Toby and Maria, respectively, and Richard E. Grant, whom I've always found somewhat irritating, makes that very quality work wonders for Aguecheek -- it's an astute bit of casting.
		ut if I had to say who really steals the show, it's Nigel Hawthorne's Malvolio, Olivia's monumentally imperious steward, and Ben Kingsley's acid-tongued Feste, the jester. It is a tribute to Mr. Hawthorne's greatness that he can play Malvolio with such astounding understatement (compared to how over the top the character can easily become) and still manage to be hilarious. In a similar vein, Mr. Kingsley plays Feste with a quietly intense embitterment which, as applied to Feste's linguistic fireworks, works hauntingly well. And when these two acting titans have their climactic scene together (Feste's mock torture of the imprisoned Malvolio), the anguish and humiliation achieved is of such a degree that you may find yourself wondering if Shakespeare momentarily forgot he was writing a comedy. (Here, Mr. Hawthorne's desperate pleading that he is not mad inevitably brings to mind his own extraordinary performance in The Madness of George III.) welfth Night, of course, refers to Christmas, and in Shakespeare's time, the play was performed as part of Christmas festivities. But don't let the earliness of the season stop you from running to see it now. It's a gem.

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